Rail anchor



.April 28, 1931. c. T. HOFFMAN 1,802,896

RAIL AAAA OR Filed May 3 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Apr. 28, 1931 UNITED rszsae CHARLES T. HOFFMAN, OF IVASHIN'GTON, DISTRIGT OF COLUMBIA RAIL ANCHOR -.Application filed May 3, 1930. Serial No. 449,5?4.

- This invention relates to devices for preventing the longitudinal creep of railroad rails, which devices are recognized in the art under the terms rail-stays, creep-checks, an-

ticreepers, or rail anchors.

. A principal object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which will besimple in construction and application as .well as inexpensive to manufacture,- and whose hold on the rail will be firm and reliable, so as to be unafiected in its placement by any action of the rail toward creeping or by the temporary movement of the rail in a direction opposite to that in which the rail tends to creep or any cause that might loosen the grip of rail anchors unprovided with means directed torprevent a release of the required'creep-check hold on the rail.

Another object is to provide a rail anchor of suflicient resiliency to permit the use of the anchoron bridges whose structural members are such as to be in-danger of injury where the tendency of the rails on the road- -way of such bridges to creep is checked by anchors of the usual rigid or non-flexible type.

A further object of theinvention is to provide a rail anchor which may be quickly and conveniently applied to the rail with the tools usually supplied track mechanics, and

which, while driven on the rail with the usual track mallet, cannot be overdriven, the purpose being to have the grip on the rail increase upon any tendency of the rail to creep and not to rely for the effectiveness of the anchor upon the customary spring clip retaining means.

A general object, including the foregoing specific objects, is to carry forward the features of my Patent 157 67 ,981, granted June 24., 1930,with respect to providing a rail anchor including means for engaging the base flange of the rail and means integral therewith adapted to be engaged and actuated by the base of the rail to render the means for engaging the base flange efiective.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a front elevation of one form of the improved anchor applied to the base of a rail. I

of the anchor F ig; 3a is a detail side elevation of one of Q the supporting members or" the anchor.

Fig. 4: 1s a front elevation of ajmodified 7 form of anchor showing the same in position as it is being applied to the base of the rail.

Fig. .5is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing b the anchor of Fig. 4 applied.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the anchor shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a front elevation ofa still further modified form of anchor.

Fig. 8 is avertical sectional View taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7 V

Fig. 9 is a plan View; of the blank from which the anchor shown in Figs. 7 and 8is made. 7

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several vlews. J

As previously indicated the present invention contemplates the provision of means for supporting a rail anchor, preferably directly on the rail, and means associated therewith for gripping or clamping the rail in such a 7 way as to be increasingly effective after the anchor is applied and also when rolling wheel loads are applied to the rail.

Referring to Fig. 1- the rail is designated generally as R and rests upon a tie T, while the anchor is designated generally as A. In this embodiment of the-invention the anchor includes a body portion 1 having the integral upstanding rail flange engaging members or hooks 2 and 3. The body of the anchor 1 is provided with the inwardly extending levers 4-4 which are formed by cutting or slotting the body as indicated at5, and the upper edges of the levers are provided with the rail base engaging members 66- whose upper. surfaces? normally have projections above the base of the rail before the anchor is applied. The lower end of the body 1 is bent or doubled upon itself as indicated at 8, thereby to provide an upstanding. leg '9 which. is formed with a central upstanding abutment portion 10 which is. preferably turned in-g wardly to engage with the inside faces of the levers 4 as indicated at 11.

The rail engaging hook 2 is preferably provided with the upwardly inclined feeding or leading-on portion 211 having the inclined underfeeding surface 26 which is intended to assist in the initial application of the anchor, while the portion 20 bears flat against the upper surface of the rail base after the anchor is applied.

In applying the anchor shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the hook 3 is placed over the edge of one base flange of the rail so that the corner 2d of the hook 2 is relatively close to the bot tom of the other rail flange. In this position the body 1 of the anchor assumes a somewhat inclined position with respect to the side or the tie T, and when the edge of the anchor on which the hook 3 is located is struck by a track mallet, or the like, the edge 2d will snap over the opposite rail flange and the inclined surface 2?) will assist in leading or feedingthe hook 2 on to the upper surface of the rail flange. As the hook 2 continues to ride in its seating action so that the portion 20 of the hook rests firmly on the upper surface of the rail flange, the upper surfaces of the projections 6-6 of the levers 44 will be sprung downwardly from the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 to the full line position. The effect of this movement will be to pull the under sides of the hooks 2 and 3 firmly into engagement with the upper sides of the rail flanges, while the levers 44 will be placed under tension so that their upper surfaces 77 will firmly grip the base or bot tom of the rail. Thus, not only will the under I surfaces of the hooks 2 and 3 be firmly in engagement with the rail but also the shanks of the hooks will engage the outer edges of the base flanges. During the initial application of the anchor the lever 4 associated with the hook 2 will have a tendency to temporarily twist or cant. However, this movement is effectually resisted by the surface 11 of'the abutment 10, so that no undue twisting or distortion of the lever 4 will take place. 'When the anchor is applied the abutment 10 will firmly bear against the. relatively free ends of the levers 44 and maintain the rail base contacting portions 77 firmly in gripping relation to the rail. As the anchor is as the creeping tendency of the rail occurs,

and the anchor is carried with the rail, the anchor ltself may have a tendency to cant or twlst 1n the direction of rail creep. However, this movement only serves to tighten anchor aside from the grippingeffect and increase the grip of the anchor on the rail, since the greater the compression of the levers %4 the greater the grip.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6 wherein the rail anchor A2 consists of a supporting body 12 having the hook portions 13 and 14, the former being a spring hook and the latter a yielding rail flange embracing hook which assists in guiding the anchor to its applied position and also secures afirm grip on the rail. In this form, the body 12 is also doubled upon itself as indicated at 15 to provide an upwardly extending leg 16, which is provided with a slot 17 to provide a lever 18, the said lever being integral with a relatively movable or compressible rail engaging hook 19. The upper edge of the lever 18 is provided with the upstanding rail base engaging projection 20, which mayv be located at any suitable point along the upper edge of the lever according to different types and designs of anchors, but is preferably located near the outer edge ofthe lever, as shown, so that during the initial application of the anchor the lever 18 is not brought into play. It is desirable to have the construction formed in such a Way that the initial application of the anchor may be facilitated, and the construction shown amply fulfils thatpurpose. As will be observed from Fig. 4, while the underside of the hook 14 is riding on the upper surface :of one of the base flanges of the rail, the upper edgejof the hook 13 is riding on the base of the rail. When the anchor is struck blow by a track mallet, or thelike, the anchor A2 is driven. to its applied position as shown in Fig. 5. lVhen the hook 13 snaps over the flange F of the rail R, the hook 14 is moved to full embracing position with respect to flange F of the rail and at the same time the projection 20 on thelever 18 also engages the base of the rail and pulls the hook 19 downwardly and inwardly to engage both the upper surface of the flange F as well as the outer edge thereof, thus providing an increased gripping effect for the rovided by the resilient hook 13Land its holding hook 14. Any relative movement of the rail under passing wheel loads which is transmitted to the leg 16 will cause the lever 18 to be further compressed and in turn cause the grip provided by the hook19 to increase.

Furthermore, as the rail tends to creep, with the body 12 firmly against the side of the tie, the lever 18 and hook 19 will have a tendency to cant inwardly toward the'body and thus more firmly increase the bite of the-hook 1. and projection 20 into the rail. The leg 16 of the anchor, therefore, not only has the leg 18 which increases its grip on the rail by virtue of the application of the anchor as Well as under passing wheel loads, butalso can yield or spring toward the tie from the point of the bend 15. In this way the gripping efflciency of the anchor is not only main tially parallel leg portions 21 and 22. Both of these leg portions are slotted or cut away as indicated at 23, thereby to provide levers 24 having integral therewith the rail flange en a in hooks'25. The levers 24 are rob C b vided with the upstanding or oflset rail base engaging projections 26 which normally are positioned in a plane which is above the plane of the rail base so that as the anchor is applied the gripping effect of the jaws provided by the levers 24 and hook 25 will be increased. WVhen the anchor A3 is applied to the rail the upper surface of the projections 26 and the front end of the hook 25 will. respectively engage the base and the upper surface of the flange F3 of the rail and the body of the anchor will assume an outwardly canted position. When the outer edge of the anchor A3 is struck by a track mallet, or the like, the entire anchor will be further driven on to the rail flange and the outer edge F4 of the flange will be driven into the socket 27 formed between the hook and the inner ends of the levers 24. The edges 24a of the levers leading to the socket 27 are preferably inclined so that'as the anchor is driven home the edge Fl'of the flange F3'will be readily guided into the socket 27. -Thus, the rail flange is efiiectually gripped in three places;

namely, at the upper side thereof by the hook 25 and in the medial portion of-the base by the projections 26 and also near the edge of the rail base by the lower edges of the sockets 27.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that all forms of rail anchors carryforward the feature of providing a lever which is compressed when the anchor is applied to the rail to increase the gripping effect of the anchor. That is to say, the forms of the invention shown herein provide ananchor body having a hook for engaging the upper. side of the rail base and a spring lever which cooperates to provide a rail gripping jaw which tenaciously grips the rail when the anchor is applied or driven home to its final position. Also, a distinguishing feature of the invention is the embodiment of the lever principle set forth in my aforesaid application in a rail anchor capable of lateral or transverse placement on the rail, as compared with the application of the an- .ehorin such a way that the lever comes into play by virtue of forces acting parallel to the vertical axis of the rail web. 1 I

I claim 1. A rail anchor including a tie abutting body having arail flange engaging hookand a lever integral therewith, said lever having a portion projecting normally above the plane of the rail base, and said body having a second hook portion adapted to snap over the'edge of the rail flange opposite the flange engaged by the hook having the lever. 2. A rail anchor including a body doubled vertically upon itself to locate the bend below the base of the rail to which the anchor is applied and form opposite leg portions, rail engaging hooks formed on one of the'leg portions for engaging opposite rail flanges, anda lever integra-l'with one of the legs of the body for increasing the grip of said hooks on the rail.

3. A rail anchor including a body doubled vertically upon itself to locate the bend below the plane of the rail base and provide substantia'lly parallel leg portions, hooks formed from one leg of the body for engaging opposite rail flanges, and a rail base engaging lever formed integral from the leg of the body having the hooks for increasing the grip of said hooks on the rail.

a. A rail anchor including a body doubled one of said leg portions being formed with inturned railflange engaging hooks, one of .said hooks having an inclined leading sur-" face, lever means formed integral with the leg of the body having the hooks, and the other leg of the body being arranged in abutting relation to the lever means.

6. in rail anchor including a body doubled uponitself to provide opposite leg portions,

one of said leg-portions having hooks for engaging opposite flanges of the railbase, and the other of said leg portions having an 1ntegral lever and hook, said hook be ng adapted to engage the upper side and edge of a base flange of the rail and said lever having an offset portion normally projecting above the bottom of the rail base whereby said lever is depressed when the anchor is applied.

7 A rail anchor including abody doubled upon itself to provide a supporting leg having hooks forengaging opposite flanges of the rail, and the other leg of the body'having combinedlever and hook means for engaging the upper side of a rail flange and the underside of the rail base, whereby when the anchor is applied, the leg ha *ing the combined lever and hook is partially forced to a canted po sition.

8. A rail anchor including a body having a supporting and tie abutting leg portion provided with opposite hook members for engaging opposite base flanges of the rail, said body also having a leg portion slotted to provide a lever and also formed with a hook for engaging with a base flange of the rail, said lever having a portion adapted to be depressed by the base of the rail thereby to force the lever and hook into gripping relation with the base of the rail. I

9. A rail anchor including a body doubled upon itself to provide opposite leg portions, each of said leg portions being formed with a rail flange engaging hook and also being slotted to form a lever integral with the hook, and a projection formed on said lever normally having a setting above the plane of the base of the rail to which the anchor is applied.

10. A rail anchor including a body doubled upon itself to provide opposite leg portions, each having a hook for engaging the upper side of the base flange of the rail and also having integral lever members having a part which provides less clearance between the lever and the book than the thickness of the base flange of the rail as it approaches the zone of the web.

11. A' rail anchor including a body doubled upon itself to provide opposite leg portions, and each of said leg portions being provided with spring gripping jaws, each of said jaws consisting of a hook adapted to engage the upper surface of the base flange of the rail and an integral lever, said lever extending away from the hook to provide a socket for engaging the edge of the rail flange and having a projection near the end of the lever normally projecting above the plane of the base of the rail to which the anchor is applied.

1.2. A rail anchor adapted for lateral application to the base flange of the rail including a body doubled upon itself and having a rail flange engaging hook, and also having an integral lever with a free endfor increasing the grip of the hook on the rail flange, said leverhavingclearance from the underside of the rail base and including a portion normally projecting above the rail base and adapted to engage therewith substantially in the plane of the rail web.

13. A rail anchor adapted for lateral application to the rail including a body formed with a hook for engaging the upperside of the 1 .se hangs of the rail and also including a lever for engaging the bottom of the rail to ronderthe gripping effect of said hook effective, said lever having a portion normally 'rail whereby when an outer edge of the U shaped body is struck blow the lever will be depressed to pull the hook 1nto binding engagement with the upper face of the base 15. A rail anchor adapted for lateral application to the rail including a body doubled upon itself to. form opposite leg portions, hooks formed on one of said leg portions for engaging opposite flanges of the rail, and means on the other leg of said body for engaging the bottom of the rail base whereby the lee; having said hooks for engaging the opposite rail flanges will be sprung toward the tie when the anchor is applied to arail.

16. A rail anchor adapted for lateral application to the rail including a body doubled upon itself to form opposite leg portions, hooks on one of said leg portions for engaging the opposite flanges of the rail base, and means on the other leg portion for increasing the grip of said hooks.

17. A rail anchor including a body doubled upon itself to provide leg portions and having means on one of the legs for engaging the opposite base flanges of the rail and a lever with a free end on the other leg, said lever being adapted to yieldin grip the rail base.

18. A rail anchor including a body having hooks for engaging opposite base flanges of the rail, and means engaging with the bottom of the rail and actuated atthe time the anchor is applied and subsequently to render said hooks effective.

19. A rail anchor including a body having hooks for engaging opposite base flanges of the rail, and means integral with the body but yieldingly movable with reference thereto whereby said hooks are rendered effective prior to as well as during creeping of the rail.

20. A rail anchor including a body having hooks for engaging opposite base flanges of a rail, and a member on the body fulcrumed at a point below the rail base for engaging the bottom of the rail whereby the hooks will impinge on the rail flange prior to an d during creeping of the rail.

21. A rail anchor including a rail base ongaging body and a substantially, U-shaped formation below the rail base, hooks formed 0n the body for engaging opposite base flanges of the rail to hold the body in relatively fixed relation to the rail, and means on a leg of the U-shaped portion for yieldingly gripping the base of the rail.

22. A rail anchor including a body having a substantially vertical U-shaped formation adapted to lie beneath the base of the rail and having hooks on one arm of said U-shaped portion for engaging opposite base flanges of the rail to support the body in fixed relation to the base of the rail, and said body having integral resilient rail gripping means on the other arm thereof.

23. A rail anchor including a rail base engaging body having a substantially U-shaped formation below the rail base, the body and a portion of the U-shaped formation being adapted for rail engagement and tie abutment, and means on the other portion of the U-shaped formation for yieldingly gripping the rail at a relatively fixed point whereby as the rail creeps the tie abutting portion will be forced in the direction of creep.

24. A one piece rail anchor consisting of a flat piece of spring metal bent to form a tie abutting body and a U-shaped portion located below the rail base and having the bend of the U-shaped portion lying substantially parallel with the tie, and rail gripping means on the U-shaped portion.

25. A one piece rail anchor consisting of a flat piece of spring metal bent to form a tie abutting body and a U-shaped portion 10- cated below the rail base and having the bend of the U-shaped portion lying substantially parallel with the tie, and rail gripping means on the U-shaped portion, said rail gripping means engaging the rail base at a point spaced from the body and constituting a permanent gripping point whereby the body will be continually forced toward the tie.

26. A one piece rail anchor, consisting of a fiat piece of spring metal bent to form a resilient loop, the bight of said loop being located parallel to and below the plane of the rail base, and one side of said loop being adapted for tie engagement, means on a portion of the loop for engaging opposite sides of the rail base, and means on the other portion of the loop for engaging one side only of the rail base.

27. A one piece rail anchor, consisting of a piece of spring metal bent to provide a loop, the bight of said loop lying below and in a plane parallel to the rail base, one of the sides of said loop being adapted for tie abutment, and resilient rail flange gripping means on the upper end of a portion of the loop.

28. A rail anchor formed from a piece of flat spring metal bent to form a loop adapted to lie below the plane of the rail base, means on one leg of the loop for holding the anchor in relatively fixed relation to the rail, and

means on the other leg of the loop for yieldingly gripping the rail.

29. A rail anchor formed from a piece of flat spring metal bent to form a flat loop having means on one leg of the loop for engaging the base of the rail adjacent the tie and means on the other leg of the loop for engaging the: base of the rail at a point spaced from the first stated means whereby as the rail creeps the upper ends of the loop will tend to close.

30. A rail anchor consisting of a flat piece of spring metal bent to form a loop adapted to lie wholly below the plane of the rail base, means on one of the arms of the loop for engaging the base of the rail adjacent the tie, and a resilient lever on the other arm of the loop adapted to engage the base of the rail pt a point spaced from the other arm of the 31. A one piece rail anchor consisting of a relatively Wide fiat piece of spring metal bent to form a loop adapted to lie wholly beneath the rail base, one of the flat sides of the loop being adapted for tie engagementand having rail flange engaging means, and the other arm of the loop having yielding rail gripping means adapted to engage the base of the rail at a point spaced from said first named rail engaging means.

32. A one piece rail anchor consisting of a fiat piece of spring metal bent to forma loop adapted to lie wholly below the rail base, one of the arms of the loop being adapted for tie abutting engagement, and means on the other arnp of the loop for gripping the base of the m1 In testimony whereof I alfix my signature.

CHARLES T. HOFFMAN. 

